How Clinical Trials Move Cancer Treatment Forward
Dana-Farber’s Geoffrey Shapiro, MD, PhD, answers common questions about clinical trials and how they help improve cancer treatment.
Research
What is Radioimmunotherapy?
Radioimmunotherapy is a combination of radiation therapy and immunotherapy.
How Chemical Biology Seeks to Improve Cancer Treatment and Research
Chemical biology research often starts with an unmet medical need — for example, a report that a certain type of cancer has developed resistance to existing therapies.
FDA Approves Second CAR T-Cell Therapy for Lymphoma Patients
CAR T-cell therapy uses specially altered T cells — which are part of the body’s immune system — to fight cancer.
Using A Bold Strategy to Enhance CAR T-Cell Therapies
Boston-based researchers hope to optimize CAR T-cell therapies to target DIPG, aggressive and difficult-to-treat brain tumors, and other tough-to-treat cancers.
Given Months to Live, Kidney Cancer Patient Defies the Odds
Two years after being given six months to live, Mullan’s cancer is still at bay because of immunotherapy and targeted chemotherapy – and through it all, he achieved one of his dreams: graduating from Harvard Law School.
What is Cancer? Common Questions, Answered
How does cancer start? In general, how is it treated? Here’s the basics of what you need to know.
Immunotherapy for Gynecological Cancers: What’s New?
In gynecologic cancers, immunotherapy is being used in all stages of treatment, and researchers are trying to enhance the effects of different immunotherapy approaches.
How is Gene Therapy Being Used to Treat Cancer and Other Diseases?
Gene therapy is a way of treating or preventing disease by altering the genetic instructions within an individual’s cells.
How Treatment Works for CAR T-Cell Therapy Patients
CAR T-cell therapy is a form of immunotherapy that uses specially modified T cells — part of the body’s defense system against disease — to attack cancer. It involves collecting T cells from a patient and genetically modifying them to recognize cancer cells. Reinfused into the patient, CAR T cells can spark a potent immune … Read more
Checkpoint Inhibitors: How Researchers are Expanding this Form of Immunotherapy
Researchers are confident that the potential of checkpoint inhibitors has only begun to be tapped.
How Scientists are Looking to Expand the Benefits of Immunotherapy
Immunotherapy can be dramatically successful for people with limited options — so scientists are working on expanding the benefits to other patients.
What is Monoclonal Antibody Therapy for Cancer?
Monoclonal antibody therapy is a kind of immunotherapy that empowers the body’s immune system to attack cancer cells.
New Clinical Trials Test Immunotherapy for Cervical Cancer
Researchers are applying the knowledge they’ve gained in previous clinical trials as they look into how immunotherapy might provide additional treatment options for patients with recurrent cervical cancer.
What is a Living Drug?
“Living” drugs consist of fully functional cells that have been selected and often modified to treat specific diseases, such as cancer. CAR T-cell therapy and therapeutic vaccines fall into this category.
CDK4/6 Inhibitors: How Do They Stop Breast Cancer Growth?
So far, CDK4/6 inhibitors have been shown to be most effective in treating advanced estrogen-receptor positive, HER2-negative breast cancer.
How do Chromosome Abnormalities Result in Cancer?
When chromosomes don’t form correctly during cell division, the result can be a misspelling or glitch in the genetic code, potentially allowing cells to proliferate continuously – a hallmark of cancer.
Refractory Cancer: What It Is and It is Treated
What does “refractory” mean medically? The word “refractory” in general use means stubborn or intractable, and in medicine it is specifically applied to disease that does not respond to treatment. Refractory cancer refers to cancer that may be resistant at the beginning of treatment, or becomes resistant during treatment. “We would consider disease refractory if … Read more
What is the Future of Immunotherapy?
Immunotherapy is a kind of treatment that has had stunning results in some patients with cancers like melanoma, lymphoma, and kidney cancer. Immunotherapy drugs empower the body’s immune system by enabling the body to fight cancer — an approach that can slow or halt cancer in certain patients. In our latest podcast series, The Science … Read more
What is ‘Chimeric’ Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy
One of the most exciting new cancer treatments, CAR T-cell therapy takes its complicated name, in part, from a fire-breathing monster in an ancient Greek myth. CAR is an acronym for “chimeric antigen receptor,” referring to genetically engineered molecules manufactured in a laboratory, inserted into the genetic material of immune T cells that have been removed from … Read more